How to Create a Mental Health Bullet Journal

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What to Include in Your Mental Health Bullet Journal

I know what you’re thinking. How can a mental health bullet journal help me with my social anxiety? How is squirreling away writing in a journal going to change the fact that my heart starts pounding just at the thought of talking to strangers? More importantly, what the heck is bullet journaling anyway?

I’m not sure where I first heard of bullet journals, but I know it became clear to me that this was a “thing” when I started seeing them described everywhere online. It seems like everyone and their mother has a bullet journal! Basically, a bullet journal is one part planner, one part diary, and one part goal/habit tracker.

But—I’d like to propose that you throw out any notions of what you think a mental health bullet journal is or has to be. If you’re creating a mental health bullet journal, it should serve the purpose for which it is intended. You should only put in it things that are going to help you. It should reduce stress not cause it.

So here goes. I’m listing below five things that I would put in a mental health bullet journal. Feel free to add to or subtract from this list, or let me know what you’ve put in your own mental health bullet journal. Most of what I’ve described you will find examples of in this article.

To get started creating a mental health bullet journal, all you need is a journal and some pens. Choose a journal that’s large enough to work with but small enough that it’s portable. It’s best to get one with dotted pages so that it’s easier to create tables and boxes. If you want to, you can add page numbers and an index to make things easier to find.

Monthly Habit Tracker

A monthly habit tracker brings together your habits and moods all in one spot so you can see the connection between the two. It reminds me a bit of the doing graphs in math class back in high school, only a lot more fun I promise!

The point of this exercise is to be able to see patterns between what you do and how you feel. Tracking your habits will also help you to make better decisions. Tracking your emotions will make it easier to manage them.

Turn your mental health bullet journal sideways so that you have a double-page spread that is longer than it is wide. Then write at the top “Monthly Habits.”

Now, across the top, write the numbers 1 to 30 (or 31) along with S, M, T, W, T, F, S, S to represent the days of the week. Down the left-hand side of the page, you will list the habits you are planning to track.

Below are some examples of things you could track:

Hours of sleep

Time to bed

Minutes of exercise

Hours of TV/Internet

Hygiene activities (showering, brushing teeth)

Gratitude

Self-care

Meditation

Socializing

Number of alcohol drinks

Number of caffeinated drinks

Number of cups of water

Number of fruits/veggies consumed

Medication (taken or not)

Vitamins (taken or not)

Next, you could list physical symptoms such as the following:

Headache

Cramps

Insomnia

Appetite (high or low)

Period (yes or now)

Finally, you could list how you are feeling mentally. Below are some examples:

Irritated

Anxious

Stressed

Angry

Sad

Happy

Daily Habit Tracker

If you want to get more detailed, you can use a daily habit tracker either in place of or in addition to a monthly habit tracker. A daily habit tracker is good because it forces you to start over each day with a fresh slate. You aren’t staring at all things you failed to accomplish in the previous days or weeks.

To create a daily habit tracker, use a single page spread for each day. Write down the date, a box for to-dos, a box for notes, a box for daily gratitude, a box for most important habits, and a box to record your mood.

(The video below shows you how to make a “year in pixels,” which is a way to create a snapshot of your mental health over the course of an entire year!)

Daily Gratitude

Include a single page spread for expressing daily gratitude. Write “Daily Gratitude” across the top and then list the numbers 1 through 30 (or 31) to represent each day of the month.

Then, each day, write down one thing you are grateful for. You could also do something more creative where you draw a sun with rays and then fill in each ray of sunshine throughout the month with something you are grateful for.

Rant Page

On a single-page spread, draw two large boxes one on top of the other. At the top of the page write an expression that shows you this page is for those times when you are at a low point (for example, “Screw This,” or something more or less offensive depending on what you like).

Then, when you’re having a particularly bad day, you can write the date at the top corner of one of the boxes, and then just free write inside the box what is bothering you. But try to remember to end it with some action steps that you could take to try and resolve the problem.

Food Tracker

What you eat is so vitally important to your mental health that it’s worth tracking in some fashion in your mental health bullet journal. Many people with social anxiety also live with depression, and your mood is somewhat dependent on what you eat.

A food tracker can be as simple as a page with a line down the middle with the headings “Food” and “Notes” on either side. Then each day, you would write down what you ate in the Food column, and how it made you feel or some other point related to the food (why you ate it, whether you made a poor choice)

Daily Doodle

Over a two-page spread, create a grid of 6 x 5 boxes so that there is one box for each day of the month. Inside each box, write the number corresponding to which day of the month it is.

Then, each day, draw a doodle that represents something important to you from that day. Or, just doodle as a way to relieve anxiety and stress, not worrying too much about what you actually draw.

Journal Prompts

On a single page spread, write the heading “Journaling Prompts” at the top and then list some prompts that you can use to write about your day. Some examples of prompts you could use include the following:

I don’t like how ______ made me feel ______ today.

I wish that I had ______ today.

I wish that I hadn’t ______ today.

I couldn’t stop thinking about _______ today.

Self Care Ideas

This is another simple one. Write the heading “Self Care Ideas” at the top of a single spread page, and then make a list of things that you can do to take care of yourself or make yourself feel better on down days. Below are some ideas to get you started:

Drink some water.

Eat something healthy.

Go for a walk.

Put on different clothes.

Talk to someone.

Do something on your to-do list.

Watch a funny movie.

Trigger Tracker

Use a single page spread and write “Trigger Tracker” across the top. Create six equal-sized boxes and create boxes for the date and time. Then create bubbles where you will write in the emotions you are feeling. Finally, creating bullets underneath where you can write down the triggers that made you feel that way.

Coping Plan

Much like the self-care ideas, make a list of things you can do to cope when you are having a bad mental health day. You could even have this focused on one specific type of coping strategy such as mindfulness.

Thought Challenger

Use this for panic attacks or anytime you notice your mental health spiraling. Simply create two columns: one where you write down your fearful thought and the other where you write down a more realistic thought.

Motivation Page

On a single spread page, write the word “Motivation” in the center. Then, Create boxes around the center section where you will write down motivational quotes that you collect as you go about your life.

30 Day Affirmation Challenge

Create a page where you list a month-long list of affirmations that you can practice one each day.

That’s it! If you’d like to create your own mental health bullet journal, I suggest at a minimum including the monthly habit tracker, trigger tracker, and thought challenger. You can then build from there to create a bullet journal that best suits your needs.